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Abdullah Almalki’s statement, March 19, 2017,about the Government of
Canada official apology:

I am very pleased to see the long-awaited government
apology.

My family and I are grateful to finally have closure.

In 2004, I was exonerated by the Syrian Security
Court. Four years later, I was exonerated by the Iacobucci Inquiry here at
home in Canada. The recent government apology brings the matter to rest.

This is a victory for Canada and every Canadian who
holds dear the Charter of Right and Freedoms, the rule of law, freedom,
equality, and dignity. It is also a victory for those who abhor torture,
arbitrary detention, bigotry and racism.

This long fought for result will hopefully give hope
to everyone who has been wronged. Hopefully, it will also boost
their resilience, strengthen their resolve, allow them to have more patience
and persistence, and help them to keep on keeping on, as a victory for
justice is a victory for all of us.

I hope my struggle, and that of many others over the
years for truth, justice and reforms, will not be wasted. I hope that we as a
country learn from such injustices and work to better our country by
strengthening our human rights laws rather than weakening them. We must
strengthen laws and institutions to preserve our liberties and
freedoms, rather than compromising them. We must also hold government
officials and government agencies accountable by demanding powerful, effective,
real-time oversight of their activities, especially when human rights can so
easily be abused in the name of national security.

It is difficult to reconcile the injustice my family
and I have endured over the last 15 years. However, we look forward
to a better future, and as much of a normal, quiet, and productive life as we
can possibly have under the circumstances.

Throughout the last 15 years, I have seen a very
ugly side of humanity, but I also have seen a very bright, hopeful, loving side
of it. I would like to sincerely thank every person and organization in Canada
and around the world who has supported my family and myself in many
different ways over the years.

I would like to thank my family and friends for their
unconditional and continuous support over the years. Your love and support is
unquantifiable (to use an engineering term).

Abdullah
Almalki, March 19, 2017.

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Abdullah Almalki is a Canadian engineer, he used to be a businessman before being detained, interrogated and tortured in Syria because of inaccurate information, false labels and unfounded inflammatory accusations that Canadian government agencies shared with Syria and other countries.

Abdullah was brutally tortured for almost two years as a result of these false accusations.

Abdullah was exonerated by the Syrian Security Court and back in Canada by the Iacobucci Inquiry, which was called by the Canadian government after Abdullah's return to Canada.

In March 2017 the Canadian government issued the long-awaited official apology to Abdullah and his family.

Fabricated accusations

Canadian government documents obtained through Access To Information Act show clearly that Canadian officials knew, through years of extensive investigations, that Mr. Almalki had not done anything wrong and was not involved in any illegal activities, yet what is most astonishing and alarming is that during the same period, even on the same day of one of these reports, the Royal Canadian Mounted Policy (RCMP) sent letters to a number of countries, including Syria suggesting to them that Mr. Almalki was "an imminent threat".

These documents combined with what was stated in the Federal Inquiry report, show that Canadian officials knowingly fabricated a case against Mr. Almalki, and had the Syrian regime interrogate under torture Mr. Almalki on questions and information that Canadian officials were supplying them directly and indirectly.

Parliamentary motion

In 2009 the Canadian Parliament passed a motion calling on the Canadian government to issue an apology to Mr. Almalki, compensate him and correct the miss information that it spread about him and his family national and international. Unfortunately the Canadian government did not yield to the will of the Canadian Parliament and has implemented none.

Federal Inquiry

In December 2006, the Canadian government announced an internal inquiry under the Public Inquiries Act to examine the role played by Canadian officials in Abdullah's imprisonment in Syria. The inquiry was held almost entirely in secret.

The internal inquiry was called after the UNHRC called on Canada in 2005 to do an independent review of the case, and after the release of Arar Commission report in 2006, in which Commissioner O'Connor called for an independent investigation as well.

On 21/10/2008, the inquiry released itsreportto the public. In it, Justice Iacobucci outlines:

" The RCMP appears to have described Mr. Almalki in this way without taking steps to ensure that the description was accurate or properly qualified. The description " linked through association to al Qaeda" and " imminent threat" did not originate in the RCMP's own investigation;... The description appear to have originated from another source; however, this source used these descriptions in respect of other individuals and notin respect of Mr. Almalki."

" I conclude that the actions of Canadian officials to provide consular services to Mr. Almalki in Syria were deficient .."

Previously, It had already been established by O'Connor Commission:

that Abdullah was tortured in Syria.

that the RCMP were questioning Abdullah by proxy in Syria, despite being fully aware that torture might be used to obtain answers from Abdullah.

that the Canadian ambassador to Syria was facilitating the delivery of questions to the Syrian intelligence and requesting the product of the interrogation.

and that in January 2003 the Canadian consul delivered personally a package to Fara Felasten branch of the Syrian intelligence, where Abdullah was illegally imprisoned, a package that contained questions for the Syrian intelligence to interrogate Abdullah on.